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Molalla staff working on food cart standards

City Manager said it will take time, but standards should be in place by end of summer

Owner of a food cart in Molalla, Dina Portis, spoke out against being allowed to stay in one place for only six months while paying for two years' worth of water.

"It's pointless," she told the Molalla City Council members at the May 22 meeting.

City Manager Dan Huff explained that staff currently is working on standards for food cart owners.

"There's no standards now but (Public Works Director) Gerald Fisher and (Planning Director) Alice Cannon are working on a plan and I think Alice has come up with a plan," said Huff. "We never had the pressure to offer a food cart," he said.

It will take time, he added and communications outreach, Huff said, but he thinks there will be new standards established by the end of the summer.

In other business, council members passed ordinance 2019-06, updating the Planning Commission and boards after reading how the nearby cities of Sandy, Milwaukie, Estacada, Canby, Oregon City, Silverton and Lake Oswego, which are similar to the Molalla ordinance, work their commissions. The recently-passed ordinance says the commission has a minimum number of three and maximum of seven members on the commission with no more than two non-resident members.

It also took out stringent regulations for non-voting youth on the commission.

The council passed the ordinance once unopposed, voted for a second reading unopposed and adopted it on the third reading.

Finance director Chaunee Sieifried explained the city is submitting its 2019-20 budget for the Government Finance Officer Distinguished Budget award. Staff has provided the budget committee the basics during the budget meeting and is providing council members with the proposed Financial Policies to review. The policies were last updated in 2009, and this year the city is using the Government Finance Officers Association best practices in the current recommended policies, which will be part of the formal budget approval process this month.

The following policies are included in the council review: budget, debt, expenditure, fund balance and reserve, grants, and revenue. The review was for discussion purposes only.

In other news, the Splash Pad is now open. Fenton Avenue is completed and the last two art works for the Heritage Art Walk are being put in their places. Celebrate Molalla is "rolling along," said Council member Leota Childress who also was presented the city's Distinguished Service Award from Mayor Keith Swigart during the meeting. He also thanked her for her leadership and commitment to the city.

Carol RosenReporter503-266-7507email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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